Alum James Markel of Oakldale gets a huge laugh when Annalisa Wijner, a live in counselor at Hanna Boys Center dunks herself trying to get on the board before starting her shift in the dunking machine when alumni from Hanna Boys Center come back this day to put together a carnival as a fund-raiser for the center 5/17/03 in SONOMA. GINA GAYLE / The Chronicle less

Alum James Markel of Oakldale gets a huge laugh when Annalisa Wijner, a live in counselor at Hanna Boys Center dunks herself trying to get on the board before starting her shift in the dunking machine when ... more

Photo: GINA GAYLE

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Alum James Markel of Oakldale (left) gets resident Edwin Mejia,13, to cough up his tickets before throwing at the dunking machine as other residents in line wonder what the hold up is when alumni from Hanna Boys Center come back this day to put together a carnival as a fund-raiser for the center 5/17/03 in SONOMA. GINA GAYLE / The Chronicle less

Alum James Markel of Oakldale (left) gets resident Edwin Mejia,13, to cough up his tickets before throwing at the dunking machine as other residents in line wonder what the hold up is when alumni from Hanna ... more

When Chris Weaver learned at age 14 that he would have to follow the rules, which included being quiet at the dining room table, he thought he'd gone to heaven.

"I wasn't even used to having a dinner table," recalled Weaver, 30, whose dinner routine had been composed of eating alone in front of the TV for years.

The three years he spent as a student at Hanna Boys Center in Sonoma in the late 1980s gave him guidelines he felt had been sorely missing in his life. Orphaned by the death of both parents, he'd been passed from one extended family member to another. It wasn't until he arrived at Hanna's that he gained a sense of direction that is still with him today.

"My time with Hanna prepared me for the work I do now with juvenile delinquents," said the Sonoma County deputy probation officer.

That's why Weaver and 50 other Hanna Boys Center Alumni Association members from around the Bay Area, including Antioch, Half Moon Bay, San Francisco, Santa Rosa and Vallejo, keep giving back to the nonprofit residential school through activities like the recent annual carnival.

According to Sister Ruth Gardner of the Sisters of St. Francis, the carnival, now in its 25th year, is a tradition at Hanna Boys Center, often referred to as the Boys Town of the West -- after the Boys Town of Nebraska. The carnival for the boys and their families is complete with a dunking tank, games of skill and chance, and prizes, such as bicycle helmets and other sports gear.

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The event "is a way for the alumni who are pleased with the results of their stay here to stay in touch with the school and with the boys who are here now," said Gardner, who is alumni coordinator and a former campus minister and teacher.

The center for underprivileged boys, named after Edward J. Hanna, who served as the archbishop of San Francisco for 20 years, opened in 1945. As a Catholic Charities project, its goal was to offer consistency, structure and care to boys who were running loose on the streets.

Originally situated in Menlo Park, it was relocated to Sonoma's 157-acre Morris Ranch at Christmas 1949. In just five years, enrollment jumped from 25 to 120 boys, who were either privately placed or wards of the court.

Al Haggett of Antioch recalled "being moved up north" in 1950. "I needed shelter and care," said Haggett, who had been a ward of the court. "Hanna gave me three meals a day and a roof over my head. They made me feel like I belonged, and now had a family."

In and out of juvenile courts and youth guidance centers, he was impressed with the friendships and care he received during his freshman and sophomore years.

"It was the feeling that someone was dedicating their time to me," said the 68-year-old retired police officer, who said he knows first-hand that the center provides what the boys need.

The center has provided a temporary home for more than 2,800 boys. What's amazing, said alumnus Bill Conley of San Francisco, is that "there are no gates at Hanna. The program is there for boys who want to better themselves." The center is not a "drop-off zone for parents because parental involvement is required. This is about healing all sides of the family."

Conley, now in his early 30s, came from a broken family and was having difficulty accepting responsibility for his actions. In conflict with authority figures at home and at school, he seized the opportunity Hanna presented.

His manipulative behavior was quickly replaced by involvement in sports programs, and within three years he had become Hanna's 1986 Boy of the Year.

His mother also took advantage of what the center had to offer parents and was able to reunite with her son, who went on to attend University of San Francisco with scholarship support from Hanna.

For Ann Marie Carmody of Santa Rosa, the center provided her and son Kevin with important skills.

"Kevin's father died when he was 12, and he was very angry. Living with three dominant women, he had no role model and soon started lying and stealing,

and having bouts of depression."

A high school counselor told Carmody about the Sonoma campus, and Kevin wrote a letter requesting admittance.

"Kevin became more outgoing and confident," his mother recalled. "He gained a feeling of self-worth because the school staff helped him learn how to accomplish things and have desires and dreams. From there, he went on to become a host student in Germany and is now a computer programmer in Colorado."

Carmody said she attended parenting groups and learned how to handle conflicts in a nonconfrontational way.

Boys and their families interested in finding out if Hanna can help their situation are offered a tour of the campus and have private interviews with the center's executive director, the Rev. John S. Crews, who has a doctorate in education. Following the interview, the boys are invited to write a letter of request, stating why they would like to attend the center.

Not all boys write that letter, and there are times when it is decided that the fit wouldn't be right, especially if the boy and his family really aren't interested in the school's values, which include respect for self and others, self-discipline and a sense of responsibility.

And then there is the matter of space. Enrollment and housing capacity is 120. Cottages and group homes, a chapel, administrative office, dining room, gymnasium and seven classrooms, including a wood shop, and 4-H area, are always at capacity.

"Given this, when we look at the idea of developing a similar program for girls, which we would like very much to do, we realize we've already got our hands full," said board member Don McPhail of Menlo Park. "As much as we'd like to expand our services, we have made a commitment to the lives of these boys that we want to be able to fulfill."

The alumni continue to feel the imprint of that commitment today. "Because of Hanna Boys Center, I'm a good father and husband," said Roger Harrison, 51, of Moss Beach.

"I came in when I was 12," Harrison said. "I was a juvenile who'd been caught for vandalism. At that age I needed a father, and mine was absent. The Hanna staff and the sisters who were there on campus were my guidance."

Harrison, a construction superintendent, loves the carnival. He and his wife, Linda, buy prizes throughout the year. "The dunking tank water is really cold," he joked.

"These boys need what we needed," he said, "and when they see us interacting with our wives and one another, they get to see that we came through and are able to have a good life."

The possibility of making a difference in the life of another boy is important for alumni president James Markel, 35, of Vallejo, who easily counts the benefits from his two years at Hanna.

"I was going with peer pressure and making some bad choices. I was borderline illiterate, had been caught joyriding in my sister's car, and other illegal things," he said.

At the suggestion of his uncle, a former Hanna student, he checked out the school, where his two older brothers were already enrolled. It didn't take him long to see that if he worked with the system, he could go further than he would on his own.

"I appreciated the attention I got," he added, "and the warm bed."

When he did return to Vallejo, he discovered he had gained enough confidence and self-respect to "make correct decisions." In essence, he "was now strong enough to say no to drugs."

"The guys and the carnival are cool," Joshua said. "When they visit us, they understand what we feel because they've been there. I will be leaving in January, and I think I'm going to be an alumni so I can come back, too, and help as needed."

While his classmate also enjoys the carnival (he won a watch the year before), he looks forward to times when he can speak privately with alumni.

"When I talk to them, I feel like they know what I'm talking about," Billy explained. "Some people can say the same things over and over again, and you know they don't hear you."